Forest Gate pupils promote importance of diversity at event
Azhar Academy Girls School pupil Esha Kamran opening the diversity conference with speakers Police Supt Raj Kohli, former sheriff of Nottingham Dr Shaukat Khan and Cllr Rev Ann Easter - Credit: Archant
Four pupils from Azhar Academy Girls School gave a lesson of their own when they held a special school assembly about diversity.
Azhar Academy Girls School pupil Esha Kamran opening the diversity conference with speakers Police Supt Raj Kohli, former sheriff of Nottingham Dr Shaukat Khan and Cllr Rev Ann Easter - Credit: Archant
Year 10 pupils Esha Kamran, 14, Sanitha Ishrat, 15, Aaliyah Natha, 14 and Faheemah Ali, 14, talked about the importance of diversity in politics, education and society at the Forest Gate school event.
They organised three prominent community speakers and prepared their own speeches for Years 7, 8 and 11 pupils for the GCSE citizenship project held last Thursday.
“Diversity is very important to our society,” Esha explained. “Without diversity we wouldn’t be economically stable.”
Police Supt Raj Kohli, the first former Muslim Sherriff of Nottingham Dr Shaukat Khan and Cllr Rev Ann Easter all talked about their experiences.
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“I liked how Ann outlined her rise to her current positions,” said Esha, adding all three were “fabulous”.
“Mr Kohli began with a series of questions asking us what we thought he liked to watch and where he came from,” the Forest Gate pupil said.
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“Our school made assumptions and they were not true.”
She added an important life lesson was for pupils to learn how to take control of their destinies.
“If you’re from a different race or culture, people can make assumptions about you,” she said. “You have to show through your actions that you are different.”
Although Esha admitted the event organisation had been hard at times the group “hope to do it again” soon.
“A lot of students said this is what we should be doing,” she said.
For now, the group has named itself Diversity Panda because “pandas are recognised as being diverse animals being black, white and Asian”.
